Economy

The town's economy is generally agricultural. Its major products include rice, root crops such as sweet potato and gabi (taro), coconuts, and other fruits and vegetables.

Fish and other shell foods are also harvested in its coastal areas but do not contribute much to the municipality's income. Underutilization of the town's marine products is due to limited access and transportation to its coastal areas. Farm-to-market roads are currently being constructed to alleviate this situation.

History

The municipality was founded during the early Spanish Colonization of the Bicol Peninsula. In 1605, Father Baltazar de los Reyes converted 12 leading natives of the area to Christianity in one day, forming the foundation of the community now known as Oas.

There are three stories that tell the origin of the name of Oas:

The existence of numerous lagoons or pools of water abounding it prompted early colonizers to give it the name of "Oasis". The natives soon called the place by this name and later abbreviated it to "Oas".

There is a dam across the narrowest portion of a local river. This dam solely irrigates the vast fields of the place......